Octave Down reviews

I see a few octave pedals mentioned quite a bit here and thought some people might find this useful. I wont go crazy in depth, just some general observations. Please chime in with any additions

and fwiw I mostly use active 5 strings and use oct down for single note use and these reviews reflect this. Starting with the ones I have in no real order:

Valeton OC10- I havent had a OC2 in over a decade but this reminds me of the Boss, glitchy character and all only smaller. Very well constructed and the easiest to hit on/off switch for a mini pedal. Cheap and easy to get.

Cog T16 v2- Sounds as advertised. Loud and full, tracks wonderful, tight and fast. I use one on my guitar board too. The way I have it set it reminds me alot of the Mooer Tender Octaver v1 but louder and punchier. I dont really use the potential OC settings but its tighter than the Valeton when set that way.

Mooer Tender Octaver v1- Very clean sounding, tracks great and has decent output. Has that POG vibe. Combined with a Slow Engine it gives a nice bowed upright sound. Ive not tried the v2.

Broughton Synth Voice- Probably my fav of the bunch for bass. Tracking is great, sounds is top notch. Clean, fat, warm and smooth. Doesnt fair well with guitar tho.
The video on the website sold me on it and is very accurate representation of it.

Broughton Broughctave- Kinda raunchy in comparison to the Synth Voice. It cant get quite loud too. Not that I use it much but I like the dirty channel best. I can get a pretty unique sound out of it, hard to describe. I find myself constantly tweaking this one more than any others. Lots of variation but I cant seem to settle on permanent settings.

Eventide Pitchfactor- Been my main oct down pedal for a long time(until Synth Voice and T16). No tracking issues, not overly digital sounding imo, has some gritty character. Plus alot of other cool sounds in that box. Kinda big for 1 main effect use but its been on my board forever.

DOD Meatbox and Mantic Destiny Hulk- I wouldnt really recommend these for oct down sounds unless you have some sub woofer action happening. If you do, these are room shakers but I find the playability range is kinda narrow and tracking could be more consistant. Again they dont get fully justified imo without a serious sub

Ones I no longer have:

Bass Whammy- Ive always like the whammy but the size it too much for just using oct down. Plus I always felt like it could have used more output on that setting.

MXR Bass Octave Deluxe- Probably the first octave pedal I had specific for bass. Very popular probably for reasons Im sure but Ive was always under whelmed by it. Maybe I need to give it another go or try the Sub Octave or Sub Machine

Mutron Octave Divider(70s version)- Loved the sound and function of this one. It would nail that classic funky sound. Tracking was decent but didnt go real low from what I recall. Sounded great with guitar too. The age and size were a deterrent. Looking forward to trying the new mini version.

Foxrox Octron 2- Sounded like the Mutron to me but was overkill for my oct down use. I also really prefered this one on guitar than bass.

Boss OC2- maybe the most documented so I wont say much and its been a long time since I owned one. I will say that Im very happy that there is now some other offerings that take what I didnt like about it and really improved on it.

Id still like to try the 3 Leaf Octabvre but very content with the Cog and Broughton for now. Im sure theres some others worth trying too, feel free to list them up.

I see a few octave pedals mentioned quite a bit here and thought some people might find this useful. I wont go crazy in depth, just some general observations. Please chime in with any additions

and fwiw I mostly use active 5 strings and use oct down for single note use and these reviews reflect this. Starting with the ones I have in no real order:

Valeton OC10- I havent had a OC2 in over a decade but this reminds me of the Boss, glitchy character and all only smaller. Very well constructed and the easiest to hit on/off switch for a mini pedal. Cheap and easy to get.

Cog T16 v2- Sounds as advertised. Loud and full, tracks wonderful, tight and fast. I use one on my guitar board too. The way I have it set it reminds me alot of the Mooer Tender Octaver v1 but louder and punchier. I dont really use the potential OC settings but its tighter than the Valeton when set that way.

Mooer Tender Octaver v1- Very clean sounding, tracks great and has decent output. Has that POG vibe. Combined with a Slow Engine it gives a nice bowed upright sound. Ive not tried the v2.

Broughton Synth Voice- Probably my fav of the bunch for bass. Tracking is great, sounds is top notch. Clean, fat, warm and smooth. Doesnt fair well with guitar tho.
The video on the website sold me on it and is very accurate representation of it.

Broughton Broughctave- Kinda raunchy in comparison to the Synth Voice. It cant get quite loud too. Not that I use it much but I like the dirty channel best. I can get a pretty unique sound out of it, hard to describe. I find myself constantly tweaking this one more than any others. Lots of variation but I cant seem to settle on permanent settings.

Eventide Pitchfactor- Been my main oct down pedal for a long time(until Synth Voice and T16). No tracking issues, not overly digital sounding imo, has some gritty character. Plus alot of other cool sounds in that box. Kinda big for 1 main effect use but its been on my board forever.

DOD Meatbox and Mantic Destiny Hulk- I wouldnt really recommend these for oct down sounds unless you have some sub woofer action happening. If you do, these are room shakers but I find the playability range is kinda narrow and tracking could be more consistant. Again they dont get fully justified imo without a serious sub

Ones I no longer have:

Bass Whammy- Ive always like the whammy but the size it too much for just using oct down. Plus I always felt like it could have used more output on that setting.

MXR Bass Octave Deluxe- Probably the first octave pedal I had specific for bass. Very popular probably for reasons Im sure but Ive was always under whelmed by it. Maybe I need to give it another go or try the Sub Octave or Sub Machine

Mutron Octave Divider(70s version)- Loved the sound and function of this one. It would nail that classic funky sound. Tracking was decent but didnt go real low from what I recall. Sounded great with guitar too. The age and size were a deterrent. Looking forward to trying the new mini version.

Foxrox Octron 2- Sounded like the Mutron to me but was overkill for my oct down use. I also really prefered this one on guitar than bass.

Boss OC2- maybe the most documented so I wont say much and its been a long time since I owned one. I will say that Im very happy that there is now some other offerings that take what I didnt like about it and really improved on it.

Id still like to try the 3 Leaf Octabvre but very content with the Cog and Broughton for now. Im sure theres some others worth trying too, feel free to list them up.

Ever try the EHX Multiplexer? Pretty simple but interesting analog circuit, there's a dirt cheap chinese clone out as well called the Black Hurricane by Eleca. First stand alone octaver I've tried and I've been digging it so far.

Ever try the EHX Multiplexer? Pretty simple but interesting analog circuit, there's a dirt cheap chinese clone out as well called the Black Hurricane by Eleca. First stand alone octaver I've tried and I've been digging it so far.

Click to expand...

Never tried the ehx Multiplexer, cant say I ever even thought about it before you mentioned it. It doesnt seem to get alot of talk

The SubT is interesting and different. Tracking is comparable to the OC2, but maybe not down as far.
As near as I can tell it has an OC2-like octave down and also a PLL synth running in parallel.
It's both more raw and more complex than the OC2.

I like it OK but it kind of falls between the OC2 and Mothership2 so doesn't get a lot of play time.

My favorite for a couple of years was the 3Leaf Octabvre (Tim tuned.) Then I had to get a Cog Effects T16 (version 2). As much as I liked the 3Leaf, I ended up preferring the T16, but both are outstanding analog octavers. I don't like digital octavers. But I loved the T16 so much I wanted to step up to the next Cog Effect level, so I bought a T-65, which is my all-time favorite now.

I have the Iron Ether Subterranea for about 4 years. Below C you will experience tracking problem. I use it in a lot of different situations.
Here I used it clean with a fretless.

Here I used it with Chorus.

Here a Bruno Mars cover with some Iron Ether Subterranea filters.

Here I used it with EHX Pitch Fork.

Click to expand...

SubT is my fav too. The others all have great qualities and are excellent octavers, but the SubT is unique.

I had problems below C as well, however I fixed it by removing the Hipass Filter in my Stingray's preamp. I also notice my PBass track better. If you own the shortscale in the pic above, try that to go lower. Or boost the bass on the preamp of the bass you play, it really starts to track better. Flatwounds or dead rounds help too, but only a bit.

I also use a compressor before it to coax some interesting tones, ans sustained notes.

SubT is my fav too. The others all have great qualities and are excellent octavers, but the SubT is unique.

I had problems below C as well, however I fixed it by removing the Hipass Filter in my Stingray's preamp. I also notice my PBass track better. If you own the shortscale in the pic above, try that to go lower. Or boost the bass on the preamp of the bass you play, it really starts to track better. Flatwounds or dead rounds help too, but only a bit.

I also use a compressor before it to coax some interesting tones, ans sustained notes.

Click to expand...

Perfect, I have everything that you mentioned. I will try this week. I love the sound with my G&L L-2500. I have flat on my G&L L-2500, I will check everything.

Taken from the the EHX Onctave Multiplexer manual (applies to all octavers):

Playing technique, The OCTAVE MULTIPLEXER is really a one note device. It
will not operate on chords unless the lowest string is hit much harder than
the others. For this reason, you should keep the silent strings dampened,
particularly when playing rising runs.
Clean triggering, some guitars have body resonance that can over emphasize
certain frequencies. When these coincide with the first overtone of a note
played (an octave above the fundamental), the OCTAVE MULTIPLEXER can
be fooled into triggering the overtone. The result is a yodeling effect. On
most guitars, the rhythm pick-up (nearest to the fingerboard) gives the
strongest fundamental. The tone filter controls should be set to mellow. It
also helps if the strings are played well away from the bridge.
One other cause of dirty triggering is easily remedied – that is the
replacement of worn or dirty strings. Worn strings develop small kinks
where they cannot contact the frets. Those cause the overtones to go
sharp, and results in the sub-octave sound glitching in the middle of a
sustained note.